In honor of Earth Week Dr. Ralph Casas gave a presentation on Tuesday, April 19 to a room full of students that were ready to learn what they can do to better the environment.
Casas begun his presentation by explaining what activism is and how students can be activist and make a decision to save the environment.
Two key points that Dr. Casas placed emphasis on is; spreading the word and how changing your eating habits can help.
Spreading the word, sending letters to politicians so they can place more interest on our environment by making policies that will protect it.
Changing our eating habits not only keeps us healthy but it also keeps us away from global warming.
At the end of the presentation the Go Green Task Force, demonstrated what team work can do and that students are welcomed to join to help make a difference.
Christian, geography major, has been involved with the Go Green Task Force for over a year. He shared, “It is just not environmental majors, it is business, sociology, anthropology and journalism majors.
“It is a variety of students that are majoring in different subjects. When they leave Cerritos College, what they learn here is what they will take with them and what we want here is policy changes so we do encourage business majors to join because they’ll put to practice what they have learned here,” he said.
Casas explained how he began to get involved, “I lived in New Mexico for some years while in conversations with people who lived there, I realized there was something going on, climate was changing there.
“Then I met an environmental sciences professor in the University of Arizona and in conversations with him and with my own research I came into the conclusion that we needed to do something.”
He also shared his thoughts on students feedback, “I think students were able to comprehend the importance of responding which was remarkable to engage, not through their brains but through their heart,” Casas shared.
The Go Green Task Force presented what they have implemented to make a change on campus, like the hydration stations and recycling programs.
Zitlally Rico, anthropology major and member at the Go Green Task Force, shared her thoughts on the difference the programs have made, “A lot of students are happy about it, because they don’t have to be buying water bottles so often. It is heart-warming to see more people actually using them because in the corner of the hydration stations it tells you how many fills and how many people have used it.”
